NEW DELHI, May 4 (Reuters) – Millions of football fans in the world’s two most populous countries may not be able to attend the World Cup that starts next month, due to a standoff over broadcast rights in India and no official decision in China.
In India, a joint venture between Reliance and Disney has offered $20 million by 2026 World Cup broadcast rights, a fraction of FIFA’s demand, which was not acceptable to football’s global governing body, two sources told Reuters on Monday. Sony 6758.T held talks but also decided against bidding for FIFA rights for India, a third source with direct knowledge said.
No deal has also been announced for China, which FIFA said accounted for 49.8% of all viewing hours on digital and social platforms worldwide in 2022. World Cup.
FIFA did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reliance-Disney, a joint venture led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance RELI.NS, did not respond to requests for comment, nor did Sony.
The lack of a confirmed broadcast deal with India or China is unusual at this stage.
In the past World CupIn the years 2018 and 2022, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV secured the rights well in advance and began broadcasting promotional content and sponsor-driven advertisements weeks before the tournament.
CCTV, which has extensive reach on television and digital platforms, did not immediately return a request for comment.
China accounted for 17.7% and India 2.9% of the 2022 tournament’s global linear TV reach. The two countries previously accounted for 22.6% of the total global digital streaming reach World Cup.
The 2026 tournament kicks off on June 11, leaving just five weeks to finalize a deal, set up broadcast infrastructure and sell advertising inventory.
HUGE FOOTBALL FOLLOWING IN INDIA, CHINA
For India, FIFA initially requested $100 million for broadcast rights for the years 2026 and 2030 World Cups, the sources said, did not want to be named because the conversations are private.
When the World Cup Last broadcast in India in 2022, Reliance’s then independent media arm secured the rights for around $60 million, which was announced about 14 months before the Qatar event. The tournament attracted more than 110 million digital viewers across its platforms.
Reliance and Disney DIS.N have since formed a joint venture to become a dominant force in India’s media and streaming landscape, and FIFA’s $20 million offer underlines the bargaining power the Indian group has.
FIFA had significantly reduced its demand from the previously mentioned $100 million but was not keen on the $20 million figure offered by Reliance, a source said.
Reliance-Disney, which has spent billions on cricket broadcast rights, believes so World Cup will have lower viewership in India as the tournament will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and most of the matches will be telecast after midnight in India, the sources said.
China has around 200 million football fans, more than any other country, but has failed to build world-class teams, partly because of a top-down approach where clubs choose players from a very small pool of pre-screened candidates.
The second source added that football in India does not have the commercial premium of the most popular sport, cricket, and that an advertising slowdown related to the Iranian war has further eroded revenue expectations.
“Football is a niche segment in India,” the source said.
Sony, which has TV channels and a streaming app in India, also decided not to buy broadcast rights from FIFA as it did not make economic sense for the group, the third industry source said.
“There’s not much time left, but I won’t call it a stalemate. It’s more like we’re at the end of a chess game with a few moves to go,” said Rohit Potphode, managing partner for sports at advertising agency Dentsu India.
